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David Bradford, Princeton economist and tax expert, dies

Posted February 22, 2005; 10:13 a.m.

by Eric Quinones

David Bradford, a professor of economics and public affairs
and an authority on taxation issues, died Tuesday, Feb. 22, from extensive
injuries sustained while escaping from a fire in his home two weeks earlier. He
was 66.

Bradford was a member of Princeton's
faculty since 1966, focusing on public sector economics, and also served three U.S.
presidents. He was a member of President George H.W. Bush's Council of Economic
Advisers from 1991 to 1993 and deputy assistant secretary for tax policy in the
U.S. Department of Treasury from 1975 to 1976, when he directed an influential
study on income tax reform.

"All members of the University community are immensely
saddened at the loss of our beloved colleague and teacher David Bradford. He
was a fine scholar and a man of intelligence and integrity," said Anne-Marie Slaughter, dean of the
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. "In all his
dealings, both personal and professional, he took care to do the right thing
and took time to do it right. We will miss him greatly and remember him with
affection and respect."

As a member of the Council of Economic Advisers under the
first President Bush, Bradford worked on a broad range of issues in areas such
as the environment, telecommunications, health care and financial institutions,
as well as taxation. While serving in the Department of Treasury under
President Ford, Bradford directed a study that resulted
in the publication "Blueprints
for Basic Tax Reform," whichis widely regarded as the
forerunner of the major U.S. income tax reform enacted in 1986.

"David's scholarship, public service and principled
advocacy are, in a nutshell, what the Woodrow Wilson
School is all about," said
Michael Rothschild, former dean of the Wilson
School and a professor of economics
and public affairs. "David was both the leading scholar on what income
taxation should be and the architect of the sweeping tax reform of 1986. David
was also a good friend, kind, thoughtful, calm, helpful and unstinting."

Bradford's published work addressed a
wide range of topics, military service recruitment, public utility pricing,
criteria for public investment, local government and the economic structure of
urban areas, and a variety of income tax issues. His most recent work focused
on the effects of income taxes on the insurance industry.

Bradford's 1986 book, "Untangling the Income Tax"
(Harvard University Press), offered a comprehensive review of income taxes and their
alternatives. He was an early proponent of the consumption tax concept, in
which personal income would be taxed only when it is spent on goods and
services.

"David was a pioneer in thinking and writing about the
consumption tax. In recent years he became very interested in environmental
policy. His work was always thoughtful, rigorous and deep, yet also cognizant
of the limitations of the analysis," said Alan Krueger, a Princeton
professor of economics and public affairs. "David was always gracious and
respectful, even when he disagreed with your position."

Alan Blinder, a Princeton professor
of economics, said Bradford conducted notable early
research on the social rate of discount, "an important topic that has
echoes in his more recent work on environmental economics."

"It's about how the government should look at tradeoffs
between the present and the future," Blinder said. "For example, if
we want to take action against global warming, we're presumably imposing some
costs on ourselves now to avoid costs many years from now. This is a critical intellectual
issue, but it's also a very practical issue."

Blinder added, "He was just super. I think he was
probably the most beloved member of this department. He was a very sweet
personality -- not someone who was always telling jokes, but someone who always
had a smile and lit up a room when he entered it."

Bradford came to Princeton
as an assistant professor of economics in 1966. He was named an associate
professor of economics and public affairs in 1971 and a full professor in 1975.
He served twice as acting dean of the Woodrow
Wilson School
and also had been an associate dean of the school and director of its graduate
program.

At the time of his death, Bradford also was an adjunct
professor of law at New York University, where he taught tax policy; a research
associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Mass.,
where he had directed the program of research in taxation for several years;
and an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy
Research in Washington, D.C.

He also was a member of a variety of state and federal advisory
boards, including: the national Railroad Retirement Reform Commission, to which
he was appointed by President Reagan in 1988; and the Economic Policy Council
of the state of New Jersey, on
which he served from 1984 to 1990.

Bradford graduated from Amherst
College in 1960, received a
master's degree in applied mathematics from Harvard
University in 1962 and earned a
Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University
in 1966.

He is survived by his wife, Gundel; his son, Theodore, of Boston; his
daughter, Lulu, of Heidelberg, Germany; four grandchildren; and his sister, Victoria Witte, of Webster Groves, Mo. A gathering
in his memory for members of the Princeton
University community was held Feb.
22. Details on services are pending.